Stargate Atlantis: Vessel
by Slunkywunky
Summary: This is a short story, set shortly after splash down on Earth at the end of Season 5. Author Note: First story I have ever written. I would love to hear your feedback (constructive criticisms welcome)
1. Chapter 1

**Stargate Atlantis: Vessel**

One minute seven seconds and probably one eighth of a millisecond – but only he was counting - was how long Doctor Rodney McKay sat immobilized.

Piercing blue – the color of the Atlantis gate chevrons - was all he could see. McKay opened his mouth to speak but only a puff of air came out. Sweat coalesced in his palms and fuzzy images of words formed in his head. Another puff, a vowel sound, and his shoulder slumped. The woman in polyester grey did not move from her spot.

Inside another one of Janus's hidden laboratories, McKay knew the silence had gone on too long. It was probably awkward. He forced himself to think of something calming. Soft and cottony, snow drifted through his head. It reminded him of the simplicity of his Canadian childhood when only the intricate crystalline structure of snow flake would matter to a boy of his age. He relaxed just long enough to clear his head and he knew what to do.

 _Greet the woman, Rodney_ , thought McKay.

He cleared his throat and his sweaty hands wiped down his black uniform. Pale blue light resonating from bubbling beakers made his outstretched hand look dry. "Hello, I'm Rodney – I – ahh — Rodney McKay, Doctor."

The side of her cheek twitched in a smile. All thought of snow ceased. He wanted to shove his flapping tongue back into his mouth and hit the restart button. The woman appeared unaware his babbling should be considered annoying and instead stepped forward to take his hand. Her tumbling brown locks bounced around her face accenting her deep blue eyes.

 _Did I wear deodorant today?_

"Hello Doctor McKay, I am Doctor Mary Honeywell."

"Ohh, it's just Rodney, call me Rodney." He watched as she nodded then turned her head to take in the unorthodox lab. Beakers illuminated murky colored water held within and a red light strobed on and off on the console. The most peculiar part was the black muddy residue sliding down the side of a stasis chamber. Slowly, the residue lurched toward the floor. Conjoining with a tap, tap, tap.

Mary shuttered and moved her gaze from the chamber. McKay was acutely aware she was still holding his hand. Warmth lingered in his hand then slowly faded. She was gently pulling back and he took that to mean it was time to let go. He watched as his hand slid slowly out of hers and she spoke, "So?"

McKay popped his head up to look at Mary. Up and down he looked trying to reason why she was actually there. "So? Umm – What?"

Mary did not respond - staring point blank at him - she waited. He swore he could feel her eyes scanning his face and he tried desperately to remember something. As the silence lingered McKay began to sway. Mary waved her hand in a circular motion. With the gesture, he assumed she was trying to get him to remember. His forehead creased. Finally, Mary broke the silence, "Mr. Woolsey asked me to come here upon my arrival today – is that not correct?"

McKay thumped his forehead then regretfully pulled his hand back, "Right, Yes, Sorry. You are the new expert in languages, including Ancient?"

He watched as her lips parted into a wide smile and her smile appeared to brighten the room. McKay cursed his male hormones and their trickery. Mary answered, "Yes, I am an expert in Lantean – and fairly good with other languages too."

"Right, well, I had sent a communique to Doctor Daniel Jackson shortly after we began cataloging the City yesterday but he has not responded." McKay imagined Daniel deleting his message and laughing about it later with Samantha Carter. Giving his head a shake, he rid himself of the image and continued, "So you'll have to do."

Mary's smile faltered and McKay's blabbering started, again, "Oh, no, I didn't mean you aren't good enough to help me, I mean look at you, you surely must be good at your job – I don't know why I just said that." Doctor Honeywell waived a dismissive hand and he shut his mouth immediately.

"Where should I start, Doctor McKay?"

"Just Rodney, call me Rodney." He wrapped his hands behind his back.

"Rodney." She smiled.

Like an opposing magnet, a self-conscious McKay side step around Mary with a large berth. Carefully not to rub against her, he moved towards the odd stasis chamber. Mary matched his stride to stay by his side. "Well, yesterday, I was working in this lab with aid of Ronon Dex and Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard." McKay turned his gaze to her face then averted his gaze forward. "You probably remember John from when you arrived today. He was meeting the new IOA recruits this morning."

Mary stopped and turned her eyes skyward. It pleased McKay that she didn't immediately remember John Sheppard. Her eyes went wide in acknowledgement. "Ahh, right, right. Crazy kind of hair?"

"Ha, not compared to Ronon's."

"His is quiet interesting, as well," piped Mary.

Oh, of course, she remembers Ronon.

"I didn't know Ronon met any of the new recruits."

Mary rolled up on to her tippy toes and shrugged. McKay mimicked a shrugged in response and continued toward the chamber. "Well anyways, Ronon inadvertently opened the chamber."

McKay air quoted the word opened. Mary slowed the rhythm of her speech, "Ok."

The sickly black residue had puddled on the floor and McKay did not want to be near it. However, Mary was so close to him he could feel her body heat. He tugged on his collar down and quickly stepped over the puddle, distancing him from Mary. He paused for a moment to see if Mary would follow him. She did not.

He released his breath and spoke, "Unfortunately, the stasis chamber was not like any other stasis chamber I have ever seen. It was giving off residual radiation and the encasing was black instead of translucent. Ronon inadvertently opened the chamber, deactivating the stasis."

McKay air quoted the word deactivating. Mary crinkled her nose. "Why do you keep making this gesture?" She put her hands up in the air and flexed her index and middle finger at McKay.

"Hmm, ohh, well I haven't quite figured out exactly what the chamber was meant to do. So I am just using general term while explaining."

"I understand. How do I help?"

"I need you to decipher Janus's notes for me." McKay waved his hand back toward the console. Mary obliged and proceeded to move to the consoles. He waited until Mary was a few steps ahead to cross over the puddle. He quickened his pace when he realized Mary was astutely waiting at the console. Grabbing the seat, McKay tapped on the console keys. A blue and white display screen formed in front of them. Green data, in Ancient text, started to appear on the screen. Mary leaned over him to get a better view. Her hair fell forward and tickled the side of his cheek. He quivered at the prickle then coughed to calm himself.

"Sorry." Mary tucked back her hair.

"Ahhhem, well as you can see I need you to translate the text."

McKay watched as the green writing reflected in Mary's eyes, as she scanned the screen. As she turned her gaze back to him, he shot his head back up to look at the display screen.

"Can you not translate Lantean yourself?"

"Well of course I can but I am too busy with the chamber. As such, I do not have the time to figure out the syntax." McKay pointed to a section of the text. "You'll see what I mean." McKay's finger pointed out and highlighted Ancient text from a passage in Janus's log. "I read the passage as, pan doron me theoi o pithos de kako me Ellips."

"Mhhmmm."

"Translated, I understand this to mean, all gifted by the Gods the vessel of evil also carries hope. It does not make a lot of sense, as you can see."

"Yes, I see Rodney, I suspect understanding the full text will help us understand the meaning." She moved her body closer to him. He froze. Nudging her hip against his, he realized she was trying to take the seat from him. He scooted, manly, out of her way.

"I will do my best to translate this for you." Mary began flipping through pages on the screen and scribbling on a nearby notepad. Stopping, she turned her head around to look at him. "Is there anything else I need to do?"

Unwittingly hovering over her, he took a couple steps back. "No, no, I ahh should go to the see the Medical Doctor."

"Oh, are you sick?" Mary appeared worried.

Taken back by her concerned, he blurted out, "She's my girlfriend."

Mary dropped her head to one side and looked at McKay.

"What I mean is she is my girlfriend but she also ran test on the residue and the person who came out of the chamber."

"A person was in there?"

"A teen aged girl."


	2. Chapter 2

Dark and clammy, the moisture in the corridor hung in the air like a mist. The South Pier had never been fully fixed after Wier's replicators almost sunk the City a few months ago. Thick with coalesced water molecules the dew slobbered on McKay's face. Pulling his collar up - he trotted to the transporter - certain he would catch a cold.

It reminded him of a couple days ago when Atlantis had just splashed down on Earth. Diligently, he rewrote the quarantine subroutines with his laptop but was interrupted by a ping. A flash of white on the screen and a memo that read; URGENT, you are requested to aid the IOA in cataloging the City.

"Oh, great. Why don't I just do everything for the IOA and their greedy needs," puffed McKay.

From the other side of the table, Doctor Radek Zelenka turned his chair and peered up through his glasses. "I just got the same memo, McKay. Everyone is being asked to help."

McKay crossed his arms. "Yeah, well I need to finish these subroutines to ensure Earth is protected from any potential bio-hazards on Atlantis. I don't have time to help them."

Zelenka sighed, "Do what you want Rodney but I suspect, soon, it will not be a request."

Zelenka folded up his laptop, his bar-stool chair spun as he hopped off the seat. McKay stared at the peculiar follicles of the traitor's head as he left the room. McKay pinched the bridge of his nose, smacked his laptop closed and trudged out of the room. Alas, he did not realize he was about to unleash an imprisoned girl.

An electrical buzz - from his headset - tingled his earlobe and pulled him out of his reverence. He knew he was about to receive an incoming communication. "Rodney, come in." It was a husky voice - John Sheppard's - on the other end. Stopping, McKay squeezed his eyes almost closed and did not immediately answer.

"Rodney – are you pouting? Is that why you are not responding to my transmissions?"

 _No._

McKay made a face then tapped his earpiece. "What earlier transmissions?"

"I've been trying for an hour to get a hold of you."

McKay felt a tingling numbness course through his body. "Oh, I'm sorry. While you tried oh so frantically to reach me, I was working my butt off to figure out the chamber. You know some of us actually take their work seriously. Oh and p.s. I did not see you come to the lab to find me, if you were so worried."

"Hey, I never said I was worried. I figured it was just the water damage in the area affecting the transmission."

McKay slumped against the stony corridor wall. "Yeah, yeah."

John elongated the first word he spoke, "Anyways, how is the research going on the chamber and the girl?"

"Hmm, didn't think you cared since you thought the IOA recruits were more important." McKay crossed his arms.

"You know it is a part of my duty to ensure all new recruits are vetted before they come to Atlantis."

Like a stone statue McKay responded, "Yes, vetted not hand greeted."

"Can we move on? The girl could be a living breathing, albeit teenage, Ancient. If we're lucky."

McKay tapped his foot repeatedly before sucking in a deep breath. Begrudgingly he responded, "Well, from what I can figure the chamber was clearly designed by Janus but without the translation and the girl not talking – I can't tell you much. I am, however, on my way to see Doctor Keller to find out about the girl's physical."

"Can't you just radio her to find out? Shouldn't you be focusing on figuring out the chamber?"

McKay swallowed hard and his thought drifted to his earlier encounter with Mary. "I needed a breather – from the room. I'll get back to it. Hey, if you are done acclimatizing the new IOA recruits why don't you come join me?"

"No can do, Padre. Apparently, Doc Keller wants a satellite medical bay set up in the south pier for all the cataloging going on. Since Doctor Fox is new and does not know her way around, she asked me to help her set it up."

"Oh I bet. What does she look like?"

"Hey, I am always willing to help out a colleague no matter what they look like." There was a long pause and Rodney thought he could hear shuffling come from the other end of the mic. John spoke again in a whisper, "Dark hair, fair skin, blue-grey eyes, mid-twenties – gotta go."

There was a buzz then quiet, McKay knew the transmission disconnected. He rolled his eyes even though no one was around to see. He continued to sulk down the hallway until he found the transporter. The bright map screen stung his eyes. Irritated, he jammed his finger into the map on the screen and promised himself not to forget the conversation.


	3. Chapter 3

The cool air breezing through the hallway could not subdue McKay's agitation, it was palpable. It stung like sunburn but he forced himself to focus on the task at hand. Padding down the hallway, the arch of the medical lab door frame came into view. His thoughts shifted to Jen then Mary. He considered telling Jen about his awkward encounter with Mary.

 _Surely, she would understand – wouldn't she?_

He braced himself just outside the door, one final thought shot through his head, _No, just act cool._

Rushing, he put one foot in front of the other a little too fast. The tip of his boot caught the slight raise of the floor. Hammering his other foot down to keep from falling, his approach was announced to anyone in the vicinity. Jennifer twirled around from where she was neatly staking clipboards on a stainless steel desk. McKay steadied himself and watched as Jennifer shook her head. He wilted.

A slight giggle passed through Jen's lips and McKay could feel his cheeks begin to redden. He considered only Jen could find his foolishness cute. Jen approached, he reminded himself to be cool or as cool as was possible for him. Jen placed her hands on his shoulders and held him at arm's length while she looked him up and down. "You alright there, Rodney?"

Pulling on the end of his jacket and turning his chin up, "I'm fine." He cleared his throat. "I'm just here for the test results on the girl."

McKay slipped out of Jen's grasp before she could stare to long at his demeanor. He began moving further into the medical lab. Jen turned to walk with him. "Sure, I just finished my tests."

Moving closer towards Jen's desk, McKay turned his head from side to side. All the medical beds neatly in a row were empty. "So, where is the little rascal?"

Jen moved around McKay to face him. "John made Ronon and Teyla look after the girl and they decided to take her on a tour of Atlantis." Jen winked at McKay. "You know to see if it would jog her memory."

McKay focused in on John's name. "Why? Because John was too busy with the new recruits?"

Jen shrugged at his comment, "Maybe but I suspect it was because he couldn't stand to be near a morose teenage girl."

"Morose?"

"Yes, morose. Poor thing has been locked up for God knows how long. Everyone she knows is long dead."

McKay had a flash image of the young girl when she came out of the chamber. Hair a mess, a tear falling from blue eyes, and how she clung to the chamber, stunned. Slowly he responded to Jen, "I guess I did not consider this was probably hard for her."

Jen caressed McKay's arm, "Yeah, I kind of wanted to give the kid a hug."

Jen made her way over to her desk. Pivoting her desktop screen for McKay to see, she tapped the screen and biometric scans popped up. "You see here." Jen pointed to wavy lines set against straight grid lines. "Her physiology is remarkable similar to humans of earth and she is in impeccable health."

McKay stuck his head out absorbing the data. He turned to Jen. "Right, but that does not mean she is an Ancient."

"I know. That is why I took a sample of her hair for DNA testing." Metal slide against metal as Jen pulled open her desk drawer. Producing a baggy with long wavy brown hair Jen wiggled the bag for McKay to see. McKay stroked his chin. "Why not just take her blood to run the DNA test?"

"Oh, I tried. She freaked when I came close to her with the needle. Started screaming and throwing things around the room."

McKay raised his eyebrows. "Hmm, so she understood what you were trying to do?"

"Yeah, I think so. She only stopped once I put down the syringe. Hence, the hair."

"And the results?"

"Right, well as suspected the girl's DNA has the ATA gene. I would say you are correct. The girl is an Ancient."

McKay bounced ever so slightly. "What about the residue?"

"Well it is organic, nothing mechanical, at least from what I can see." Jen turned her head toward a long skinny table beside her desk. A tall, glass and oak cabinet sat perched atop the table. Jen grasped the brush nickel handle. "The odd part was how it reacted to one of my tests."

"How so?"

With a click, Jen pulled open the glass door. "Well, I ran it through the centrifuge."

"and?"

Jennifer pulled out a vial and held it up for McKay to see. The vial - about the size of McKay's middle finger - had residual residue left inside. "Well, it did not entirely separate but it left this odd pattern inside the tube."

Crusty and hard, horizontal lines remained inside the vial. Jennifer spoke, "I thought it was random, so I ran the test again and it did the same thing on another vial."

A second vial with the same flakey residue was produced by Jen. McKay snapped his fingers and grabbed both from Jennifer. He turned them both sideways, the lines became vertical and identical. He turned to Jennifer and smiled, "It's an interference pattern."

Jennifer raised one eyebrow. "Explain."

McKay looked around the area and spotted a sterile bed pan and saline solution on the counter. Grabbing them, he began pouring the liquid into the pan.

"Hey," exclaimed Jen.

"Just watch."

When the pan had a decent amount of water inside McKay grabbed two aspirin and drop them one at a time into the saline. "There you see."

McKay pointed at the two separate ripples created by each dropped aspirin. Jen turned her gaze to the saline solution and watched as the round rippling waves slowly worked their way towards each other. "When two waves intersect they create a third wave pattern."

As the individual ripples collided, a new larger wave was created at the epicenter and sprung outward. The result was three ripples moving outward until all three hit the pan side.

"It is called an interference pattern because the two waves interfered with each other creating a new pattern. Your vial looks exactly like two waves collided creating three distinct lines with the thickest being in the middle."

Jennifer's eye began to twitch, "Ok, I get it but it is one gelatinous mass. How can there be two separate waves?"

McKay held the vial up to the light. "Hmmm, well there couldn't be." McKay continued to hold the vial up to the light. "Unless," he trailed off.

"Schrogeinger's cat!" He snapped his fingers.

"Pardon me?"

Rapidly moving hands help McKay explain. "Cat in box, box is closed, poison is at any point released, cat is both dead and alive at the same time until observed."

"That's awful." Jen gaped.

"Well, he didn't really carry out the experiment. It was theoretical but I think Janus found a way to make it a reality."

The expression on Jen's face told McKay she wasn't really following his explanation. "Well, you already know about the residual radiation from the chamber. We often associate this type of radiation to parallel universes."

"Ok – so the girl is from a different reality?"

"No, I don't think so. This is where the interference pattern is critical. In particle physics, particles don't travel in straight lines they travel in waves. These waves are called probability waves and different outcomes are possible."

"Ok?"

"I think the residue - in conjunction with the chamber's programming – has the ability to control reality inside the chamber at a quantum level. Leaving, the subject held in two states, at the same time. Thus controlling the aging process."

Jen sagged as she whispered, "Life and death."


	4. Chapter 4

_Ohh, this cannot be good_ , thought McKay.

Jen clutched her standard issued medical stethoscope, dodged a motionless medical bed and made a break for the door. Medical Technicians were straining to haul in the body of an unresponsive woman. Her sickly yellow hand flopped lifelessly to the side of the gurney. McKay stomach turned.

Black rubber scuffed the concrete floor as his boot heels slid backward. His eyes fixated on the unconscious woman. Her pale skin looked deathly and hollow. Bumping Jen's desk, McKay put his hand down to balance himself but instead of hard metal his hand found soft flimsy paper. Pulling away too late, his hand collided with the top clipboard. Skidding off the soft paper, his fingertip flicked the end of a clipboard. Sending clipboards end over end until several of them hit the ground.

Rushing to aid her staff, Jen did not notice the disruption. McKay seized the opportunity. Bending down to fetch the clipboards, he peered back up at the desk. It was then he realized the clipboards had been organized in a particular manner with labels attached. Returning his gaze to the ground, he found labels askew from their clipboards.

A twinge shot through his chest at the idea he had messed up Jen's files. Quickly, he ran his hand along the floor scooping up all the clipboards and labels. Parts of yellow paper and thin metal stuck out of McKay's arms. He could hear Jen barking orders out to her staff and hoped that meant he had not been seen.

Scampering, he quickly took the seat on the other side of the desk. Darting his eyes to where Jen now had the unconscious woman on a medical bed, he could see Jen was fast at work trying to determine the cause of the woman's unconsciousness. He heard Marie, Jen's best medical technician, mentioned the woman had been found unconscious in the hallway.

He needed to use the distraction wisely. First he needed to figure out what was labelled and why. Then he could reattach the labels to the clipboards. He took a deep breath and sharply placed the labels into one pile and the clipboards in another. He then picked up the first clipboard and began to read the memo attached. It read; Stacey Chambers, Medical Technician, Competencies; advanced biological medical testing, advanced clinical experience in the study of oncology – McKay realized he was reading one of the IOA recruit's Curricula Vitae.

He popped his head back up to apprise himself of the medical situation. Jen was ordering Marie around. "Her pulse and breath are rapid. Marie get me a hundred ccs of Diltiazem."

Judging carefully, he had a couple more minutes. Grabbing the labels – carefully written in Jen's handwriting – he read the tasks written on them.

 _Great, how am I supposed to figure out what task she would have assigned them? Think McKay, think_.

A flash of a memory, John's voice and a conversation about Doctor fox's task. It was a good place to start. He hoped a pattern might emerge. Shuffling through the clipboards McKay found Doctor Ruth Fox's name labelled on a clipboard. He skimmed the piece of paper and made note she recently finished her residency in Rheumatology.

The sweat from his hand was starting to dampen the labels as he searched through them to find one labelled satellite medical bay. Again and again, he flipped through the labels but he could not find the one he needed. Straining to hear what Jen was saying, he heard her telling the staff their jobs were done. Panicked hands slapped labels on clipboards without thought. Just as McKay slide the pile back into the appropriate position, Jen turned to face him.


	5. Chapter 5

Two steps out, McKay turned back to look at the transporter. A thought of Jen and the clipboards lingered in his mind. He considered turning around and going back to tell Jen what he had done. Hesitating, he remembered how upset she seemed by her inability to diagnose the unconscious woman.

 _I'll tell her soon. Just – later._

Every step he took echoed in the lonely corridor. The once clear sky – visible from the picture window twenty feet away – was being consumed by a cloud front. The suffocating grey of the clouds could be seen for miles and were foreboding to McKay.

 _This corridor, the comatose woman and now a thunderstorm – I am definitely catching something today._

Rounding the corner, McKay paused just outside the door frame to Janus's lab. There – blocked by the wall - he took deep breaths to calm his nerves. He reminded himself to enter the room slowly. He stood up straight and puffed out his chest.

As he began to swing his arms and turn into the lab, he could hear Mary speaking to someone. He hesitated and pressed his ear against the cool corridor wall. The cold was soothing against his warm skin and he willed his ears to pick up the hushed voices coming from inside the room. A woman, he assumed was Mary, and an unidentified man were conversing, no disagreeing.

"It can't be right. It can't be." Mary stammered.

A whimsically deep voice responded, "I'm sorry, my Dear, but it is indeed right. The Chamber should never have been opened."

Perturbed by the fact he could not place a name to the voice of the male speaker, McKay pressed his whole body against the wall in the hope it would aide his hearing. Like a splayed cat stuck to a screen door, he listened intently.

"There must be something I can do to fix the problem," whispered Mary.

"It would likely take a being of great power to remedy the situation."

"An ascended being?"

"Well, yes but I suspect you will find no aid from any ascended being." McKay could feel his heart palpitating inside his chest.

 _Why would she need an ascended being to help her?_

A crack from the thunderstorm startled McKay, he jumped. Fully pressed against the wall his feet landed to close to the wall, clipping the stone. For the second time that day, he stumbled but this time he hit the ground with a yelp. As he scrambled to his feet, McKay strained to hear Mary. Nothing but silence came from the room. Stepping away from the wall, he turned his head to look down the corridor and thought of escape. He wrung his hands together worried Mary would be upset with him.

He sucked in air and held the mass in his lungs, as he entered the room. Mary was sitting at the console, head down and no one else around. The mass of air slowly released from his lungs and slipped passed his lips. Steadily writing down notes, Mary appeared not to notice McKay's entry. As he watched her flip through dialogue on the console screen, McKay wondered where the man went. Looking around the room, the only exit was the door he had just walked through.

Scanning the room, McKay's eyes landed on a radio laying askew on the console. He snapped his fingers in recognition. Mary perked, swiveled her chair around and looked at him. "Hi Rodney, sorry were you trying to get my attention?"

Odd, she did not mention the ruckus he made. McKay wondered if she was trying to cover up for the conversation he overheard. However, had she not actually heard him fall down outside, he did not want to tip her to his spying. Choosing his words carefully, he asked, "Did Daniel call on the radio?"

He gestured to the hand held radio to her left and Mary regarded it for a moment. "Oh, no. I did not even turn the radio on."

Upon taking a closer look McKay was able to make out the switch at the top of the radio was indeed turned to off. McKay's hand went to his forehead, trying to gauge his own temperature. Squinting one eye at him, Mary opened her mouth to ask a question. McKay held up his pointer finger to cue a moment of silence. Mary obliging, closed her mouth and waited.

He'd heard voices before in his head, once when he was deliriously sick in sixth grade. The other time was when he was transforming into a superior being. Knowing he had been nowhere near the ascension machine that transformed him before, McKay assumed he had a fever. His hand, always sweaty, could not determine the temperature of his forehead. Dropping to his side his hands fell with a wiggle. For the briefest of moments, he considered asking Mary to take his temperature.

 _No no, don't be ridiculous_.

He looked at Mary and knew he needed to explain his odd behavior. "I think I might be coming down with something."

"and a hand to the forehead would help?"

"Ha, no, I was just trying, unsuccessfully, to take my temperature."

"Oh, ha, right." Mary mimicked McKay's response.

McKay moved to the chair beside Mary and decided to switch the subject, avoiding any more embarrassment, "So Mary, how is the translation coming along?"

Grasping at her note pad, Mary irritably flipped through her notes. Page after page she turned until she appeared to find the one of interest. Tapping the page with her pencil she spoke, "Janus was cryptic at the beginning but I have deciphered some of the second part."

"What did it say?" McKay's flush with heat took the seat beside Mary and tried to focus on her words.

"It appears to be about the girl. She was an evolutionary advancement for the species."

"Advancement?" Saving his strength McKay tried to only use one word questions to conserve energy.

"Yes, Janus described it as Pan Doron – all gifted. Her abilities rivaled the adults of her species. Among other things, she had the ability to manipulate matter and to control her own growth patterns."

McKay's thoughts twisted in his body heat. He tried to comprehend the information and how it related to the chamber. "Why put her in the chamber?"

Mary paused. "Shortly after her birth there was a cataclysmic event that forced her people to leave the planet."

"What does that have to do with the chamber?"

"It is important to know why the chamber was created."

McKay grabbed the side of the console to stop his chair from spinning only to realize he wasn't moving. McKay needed Mary to get to the point. "Mary, did Janus specifically reference why he created the Chamber?"

Mary pinched her lips closed then looked down at her notes. The page a blur to McKay, the fever messing with his vision. He began to sway back and forth trying to fix the visual distortion. Sullen, Mary finally answered him, "Yes, they feared the girl and believed it was her that brought about the event."

Slumping further into the chair, McKay let his head fall into his hands. The heat coursing through his head was blistering. He laid his head down on the metal table to cool himself. Flopping to the side, his head came to cradle in his arms. One eye turned up to Mary fluttering to stay open, McKay was determined not to pass out. Thoughts formed inside his had incoherently like soapy bubbles popping in and out of existence.

Pan Doron sounded familiar to him and he knew all gifted meant something, something important. McKay began to shake his head and Mary stretched out her hand to caress his shoulder. The warmth in her hand was both comforting and overwhelming. As the heat increased in the area she caressed, a bubble of something Greek popped into his head, a story. He wanted to explain to Mary the importance of the story but he couldn't get the words out. Tumbling from the chair McKay hit the ground. A concrete taste on his lips and spikes of heat ran cold subduing him.

Mary was there in an instant calling out his name and running her hands along his neck and chest. He wanted to tell her what he knew, he wanted not to slip into unconsciousness but the blackness around his vision told him he was not going to win the battle. As she slipped out of his vision one final bubble popped into his head and out of his mouth.

"Pandora."


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't care what you are doing John, Major Lorne found Ronon and Teyla unconscious. Now Jen tells me they are suffering similar side effects to another woman found unconscious today. I just passed out myself - this could be an epidemic."

Skin still pale from his earlier episode, McKay paced the lab floor grasping his tablet tightly. Caring eyes watched him from across the room. A feeling rose in the pit of his stomach and he immediately felt bad for making her worry. Up to quick to call the others and explain the situation, he knew she worried he'd pass out again from the stress.

John buzzed in his ear, "Calm down McKay. We don't know the girl is Pandora or that the unconscious people have anything to do with her."

Thunder cracked and McKay held his ear piece trying to cut out the noise. "We need to find her."

"Major Lorne has already begun setting up search teams. I will join them as soon as Doctor Fox and I finish here."

McKay could not comprehend the effect Doctor Fox had on John, like Bonnie over Clyde. Heat surged through McKay's cheeks and he expected to pass out but anger hit him instead. "Are you listening to me, John? We literally just open Pandora's box!"

A sigh and John responded, "It's a myth."

"Yes, I know it's a Greek myth but so was the myth of Atlantis and that turned out to be true."

"No, I do not mean the story of Pandora. I mean Pandora's Box is a myth – fabrication."

"What are you talking about?"

"Geez, I know you're no Daniel Jackson but surely you know that when the story of Pandora was translated from Greek to Latin the transcriber mistranslated the word Pithos to mean Box."

"Why would I know that and what does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm just saying, Pithos means vessel not box. Therefore, if the story is routed in truth I doubt the story is referring to the chamber as Pandora's Box and there is likely more to the story than we know."

"Alright MENSA, so Pandora doesn't have a box but she still brought evil into the world and it could be happening again."

There was a long pause then John retorted, "Fine, we will pack up and join the search parties but you need to figure out the rest of the translations."

"Yes, we will but – "

A high pitch cry stung McKay's ears and he shrugged his shoulders. Wiping his head around, McKay looked to the lab doors which were slowly closing. A rush of adrenaline flew through McKay's body and he darted for the door. As quickly as he moved so too did Mary, who was right behind him as they shot out into the corridor. The doors slammed shut. McKay could not stop his momentum and he slammed into the corridor wall adjacent the door. Mary, swifter of foot, stopped before slamming into McKay.

The wailing noise continued to sound in the background. John was yelling into McKay's ear. Turning his head, McKay saw doors sliding closing as far as the eye could see down the corridor. Mary jostled his shoulder trying to get him to respond.

Pulling away from Mary, McKay willed his sense to obey him and then he fully understood. Turning to Mary and inadvertently responding to John at the same time McKay spoke, "It's the quarantine alarms. We need to figure out what is going on."

Mary nodded and John spoke, "How do we figure out what is going on, McKay? I was just locked in the room with Doctor Fox."

"Oh, right. I guess I'll figure it out all by myself."

Mary spoke then, "Why did you run into the corridor?"

A thought bubble arose in McKay's head and he bolted away. Gloomy from closed doors, the corridor was at least straight. One foot after the other, McKay ran as fast as he dared in the looming dark. Mary followed, yelling, "Where are you going?"

McKay did not answer. He needed to conserve energy for run. Headed toward the edge of the pier, McKay slid to a stop at the large picture window. The massive window looked back on the City. Breathless, he whispered, "Please don't rise, please don't rise."

Simultaneously John and Mary asked the same question, "What are you talking about?"

A loud whoosh and a bright light from the edge of the city stung McKay's eyes. The light intensified and shined through the menacing clouds, as it slowly rose higher into McKay's visual field. John spoke, "McKay, why is the City shield rising?"

McKay turned to Mary but answered John's question. "It is a pandemic."

"How do you know?"

"Oh I know, I wrote the subroutines that would raise the shield should a questionable medical situation arise. The shield is program only to rise in the event the level is considered pandemic." McKay tapped his tablet to confirm his suspicions. The word Pandemic flashed across the screen.

"What does that mean, McKay?"

Rough metal of the wall caught McKay's weight as he slumped. "It means Earth will be protected but we are all dead."

Weakened knees buckled and his back slide down the wall till fatty tissue hit the floor. McKay knew a pandemic event could not be stop easily even by the best Atlantis scientist. John was silent on the other end of the mic. Mary lingered before him, the bottom of her white soled shoe scuffing back and forth as she swayed.

The wailing remained constant but the silence between the three was deafening. McKay's ear crackled with electricity as the ear bud activated. "Ok, first thing we need is turn of the alarms and figure out a plan."

"Right now, Zelenka is probably working with Woolsey to turn off the sounding alarms. Jen is most likely looking into a way to cure the illness. We need to get Pandora into Jen's hands so she can run test."

"Ok, how?"

Lurching to his feet McKay stood up. "I'm thinking. Give me a second." The silence must have been too much for John and he began to mutter through the ear piece.

"Ok, let's go over what we know."

"We know the girl has special abilities and the ability to control her growth."

"Right, it's also likely the cataclysmic event on her world was a pandemic that she caused… You know what that sounds like right?" whispered John.

McKay was about to mention the Ancient plague that swept through the Milky Way galaxy millions of years ago when John spoke, "Adria."

"Adria?"

"Yes, Adria, she had all sorts of special powers and although she did not create a plague we know she was similar to the Priors that could."

"Geez John, you think Pandora is the first attempt at an Orici?"

"I don't know McKay but it could be possible and we need to do something about it."

"You're right. We definitely need to find her."

McKay shook his head and began walking, pacing himself, "Right, well first I need to get back into the lab."

"Aren't you in the lab?"

"No, keep up John, I ran out to look out the window."

"Ok, well how do you plan to get back into the lab if the doors are closed? Have a Hazmat suit handy?"

"No, but I have programmed an emergency code into the City so that when entered it allows me to pass through the city during a quarantine." McKay began moving back through the corridor towards the lab. Mary trailed behind.

"So essentially, you wrote yourself a getting out of jail free card?"

"Yeah, I guess." McKay tapped on his tablet trying to bring up the right program.

"Typical."

Inferring John's meaning, McKay answered, "Well, clearly I wouldn't use this option if I was one of the infected. Hello, I am smarter than that."

John slowed the rhythm of his voice, "Sure."

Reaching the lab, McKay pulled off the protective case to the door panel and connected his tablet.

"Ok, McKay, give me the code so we can get out of this room. Doctor Fox is starting to freak out in here." McKay could hear a woman yelling in the background. It nudged something in his memory about Doctor Fox.

"What is she saying, John?"

"She is a little hysterical about being locked up like an animal in a cage."

There was white noise, silence, coming from the other end of the mic. McKay considered only Pandora would truly understand what it felt like to be caged. "John, it's her?"

"It's her, what?"

"Doctor Fox is Pandora."

"No, What?"

"It has to be her."

More shuffling coming through the mic and the yelling in the background lessen. John spoke again, "McKay, I think I would know if I was hanging out with a teenaged girl all day."

"If she aged you wouldn't."

"No, I don't believe it."

"Well, believe this John. She lied to you about needing to set up a satellite medical bay. I saw no such task listed in Jen's task breakdown for the recruits."

More silence. "What do I do?"

"Just stay calm, I will find a way to get you out."

"Just give me the code and I can slip away from her."

"It doesn't exactly work that way."

"What?" John yelled a little too loud.

"It was prudent to set the City's life sign detector to register and confirm my Bioscan at the time of using the code. That way, no one unauthorized could steal the code."

"Great, and you didn't think I could use one of those?" sighed John.

"Yes, but I did not have time to create more than one program code before I was pulled away." McKay was not even sure the code would work properly as he had not tested it.

He slid in the final door crystal into position. Nothing. He gave the door panel a tap, and the door to the lab slid opened. McKay hastily moved inside. Mary followed him to the console. Focused on his task at hand, he ignored how close Mary was to him. Frivolously, McKay began tapping on the console keys.

"What are you doing McKay?" asked Mary.

"I am going to stop Pandora."

Mary stepped back from McKay. John responded, "How? You have any anti prior devices lying around?"

"I don't need one. I have a shield."

"How does that help?"

McKay continued to tap on the console as he explained, "The Anti-Prior Device works by emitting a sonic frequency through a spherical shape chamber that sends out the signal in omnidirectional paths - similar to a resonating chamber."

"So?"

"So, I'm going to have our transmission array emit the sonic signal. If I do it right, it should be able to get the transmission to bounce of the shield and encompass the whole City in the frequency."

Mary stepped forward suddenly, "What does it do? Will it hurt us?"

"No Mary. It only subdues the powers of the Ori." She looked puzzled, "What do the Ori have to do with it?"

"We suspect the girl is similar to an Orici and if true, she could use her powers to stop us from finding her."

"So you are going to render her powers useless?"

McKay nodded his head up and down but did not take his eyes away from the console. A moment later he was being thrown across the room. No physical force was exerted upon his body. Instead it felt like being electrocuted and knocked off his feet. McKay looked up, Mary's face was sullen, her hands were up and she began trudging towards him. McKay's vision was blackening but he could see Mary hovering above him. Then the blackness took him.


	7. Chapter 7

Forcing his eyes to blink open, a deep ruddy brown was all McKay could comprehend. The wash of red and brown were incapacitating and he thrashed around to see something, anything, else. Finally, his head came to a rest on his shoulder. Slick sticky residue was seeping into his woven shirt. He squirmed away.

Outside, whitecap waves crashed again and again into the City's shields with a constant thud. McKay's ear canal – overloaded - throbbed with the constant wailing of the alarm and thudding. Trying to bring his hands to his ears, McKay soon realized his hands were bound in front him and he was on his back. Unable to cover his ears, his thought drifted to a fluffy haired Zelenka and he narrowed his eyes.

 _Why hasn't he turned the damn alarms off yet!_

Still distancing himself from the chamber he found solace against the other side of the console. Pitches and tones came from the other side of the console. Closer then, McKay realized Mary was standing only two feet from the other side. Leaning, he peered around the console. Mary's long dark hair drenched down the back of her grey uniformed and blocked McKay's view of the man who was speaking.

Pulling himself back up right, McKay realized Mary had indeed always been Pandora. A flood of memories hit him, the way Mary referred to Ancients as Lanteans or her misunderstanding of common gestures. The signs were there – even her looks – but McKay missed them all.

Three taps, three taps was all it would take for McKay to finish programing the transmitter array and activating the frequency. One problem, Mary stood less than a foot away from the console McKay needed to access. Letting his head rest against the cold console, he paused a moment to listen to Mary's conversation.

"I think I'm ready, do you believe this will work?" Mary asked.

"My dear, of course it will. All you have to do is ascend and you will not be bound by any physical laws as you currently know them."

McKay looked down at his standard issue uniform. The same uniform his suffering friends would be wearing. He knew if Mary ascended Jen would have no real chance at synthesizing a cure from Mary's blood. _It's always up to me to save the day, hmm._

Hands pressed against the floor, all four limbs moved in synchronicity to reach the other side of the console. Mid infancy crawl, the wailing stop and the lab went quiet. He shook his head and thought of the fluffy haired man again. McKay cursed Zelenka for having the worst timing in the world.

Squishing himself into the floor he hoped he would go unnoticed. A second passed and Mary continued her conversation giving McKay the opportunity to manage his way back to all fours.

"I hope this works."

"You need to focus now. Try to reach a meditative state like I showed you."

Shooting up, McKay reached the console and tapped in the last sequence to active the transmitter array. As his finger hit the last button, McKay turned his head to look at the conversing pair. Mary was bending down and McKay could see the figure of a slender man dressed in a white almost robe looking garb. The slender man focused in on McKay. "I think your friend is awake."

The length of the slender man's pointer finger pointed out toward McKay and Mary whirled around. The man glowed – like the console display - behind Mary. McKay's mouth popped open.

"Janus?"

Janus turned his head sideways. "Do I know you?" Mary lifted her arms and flung them out towards McKay. McKay jerked, squinted, and expected to be thrown backwards. Nothing happened. McKay opened his eyes. Mary looked down at her hands then to Janus. "What happened? Why did my powers not work?"

Janus stood there looking but not moving. "I suspect whatever he just punched into the console has something to do with it." Mary darted to her feet and rushed past McKay, knocking him down. Hands moved rapidly across the screen of the console but Mary had no luck. "Undo it Rodney!"

"No, I won't let you ascend."

Mary whirled around to Janus. "Can you fix or interact with the console somehow?"

Janus shook his head, "No Mary, my program does not work that way."

Janus's figure flickered. "Program? You're a hologram?" McKay struggled to sit up right.

"Very good, I was created in the event Ellips was ever released."

Mary slumped into the chair beside the console head down and began to weep. A pang ran through McKay but he was determined not to feel sorry for her. Her blue eyes looked up again at McKay and he forced himself to look away.

"Ellips?"

"It's her name," answered Janus.

"I thought her name was Pandora, the vessel of evil?" Mary flung her head upward. Her red blotchy face was reddening every second. "I am not evil."

Her intensity made McKay shrivel but he remained steadfast. "You caused a plague that almost wiped out your people, Mary, Pandora, Ellips – Whatever."

Slumping again, Mary began shaking her head. "I didn't know, Rodney. I didn't know."

Janus spoke up then, "Perhaps I can explain."

"Ohh, I already know. She told me."

"I didn't tell you everything Rodney," sniffled Mary.

"Well please do tell me, I am sure all the people who are about to die have the time to wait." McKay tried to cross his arms but with bound hands he just wriggled his hands up to his chest.

Mary looked down at her hands. "No one knew, not even myself, that I caused the plague. You see it transferred to my mother through my blood when I was born. It was only after we left the planet they figure out it was me."

"How?"

"I cut myself playing with a friend and my blood infected her. They others realized then it had always been me. They quickly quarantined my friend and place me in stasis to prevent further out break."

Janus piped in then, "She remained in stasis for millennia but it appeared even in stasis she still had some control of her powers, specifically to control her growth patterns."

"That is why you created the chamber, to prevent her from aging?"

"Yes. When the others realized she might age to be old enough to ascend they became worried, panicked even. They commissioned me to find a way to humanely end her life."

"But you, being you, didn't do what you were supposed to and now my people are screwed because you programmed the default deactivation setting to choose life instead of death." Mary turned her head to look at Janus with a questioning look and Janus responded with a knowing nod.

"She didn't know you programmed it to choose life?" McKay asked Janus but Mary responded.

"No, Rodney. Even though Janus was the only person to ever care for me, I knew he needed to ensure the safety of the people. I assumed that meant I would one day die inside the chamber, if no cure could be found."

The Janus hologram still looking at Mary responded, "I did it because I did not believe she was evil and one day I might find a cure. I am sorry for the unfortunate events that lead your people to open her chamber."

"Well, that's nice but your ego will be the downfall of my people," huffed McKay.

Mary opened her mouth to respond but McKay's headset started vibrating on a top the console. The faintest sounds were coming through the ear piece. McKay glanced at the headset but did not move. Mary closed her mouth and waived her hand toward the headset.

"What, I'm allowed to answer it?"

"There is not much point in me trying to stop you now." McKay looked at Mary sideways but got to his feet and hobbled along the floor. Grabbing his earpiece with bound hands he popped it into his ear. An immediate shock and Jen's voice came through the speaker. "McKay, answer me."

"I'm here Jen."

"Oh Thank God, I have been trying to reach you but it only just connected." McKay glanced sideways at Mary. She must have always been shielding communications until the emitter was activated.

"I'm ok Jen, what is going on."

"So many people are falling ill and I needed to know you were ok. I thought you passed out somewhere when I could not get a hold of you."

"Really, I'm ok." McKay turned to Mary then. "Hold on a second Jen."

Remembering his fainting episode from a few hours ago he turned to Mary and asked, "Why aren't I sick?"

"I healed you while you were unconscious."

McKay remembered Mary's hands running over his body. Immediately, he stepped forward. "Then you can heal everyone else."

"No, I can't. It weakened me to heal you and I am sure I would die if I tried to heal everyone."

Jen began screaming then and McKay ripped out the headset from his ear. Holding it at some distance he could hear Jen yelling, "Ronon is convulsing. I need Diazepam stat." The line went silent and McKay once more turned to Mary.

"You need to help my friends Mary! We can figure the rest out later." McKay began hobbling over to the lab doors focused on the door panel.

"I'd have the power to heal everyone, if I ascend." Mary stood up.

Still hobbling McKay shook his head. "The other ascended beings wouldn't let you heal us."

Mary stamped her foot. "I don't care what the others want. They never treated me as one of them and I will not be as callous as they were with me. If it is the first and last thing I do as ascended being I will heal you all."

McKay stopped to look at Mary and knew his friend was close to death. Many others would soon succumb to the illness, as well. McKay shuffled back along the floor to the console. Mary regarded his movements and stepped forward. McKay put his bound hands up and Mary wavered. Reaching the console McKay tapped the code to deactivate the array.

McKay let his head droop and Mary closed the distance between them. Her hand came to rest on his shoulder and warmth lingered. From his peripheral, he could see a bright glow.

He turned. A wisp of white energy lingered before McKay and it reminded him of Mary's smile. A brilliant light shot out in every direction, encompassing McKay. Momentarily stunned by the light, he shut his eyes. The light produced a bright red behind McKay's closed eyes. As the light vanished, so too did the red. He looked down to find himself no longer bound. Grabbing his ear pieced and jamming it into his ear he radioed Jennifer, "Jen, come in."

"Rodney, it's a miracle. Ronon's fever broke and others are beginning to wake up."

"Thank God."

"What happened?"

"It's a long story – but I love you Jen."

There was a pause, "I love you too, Rodney."

The radio clicked silent. He turned to Janus. "Ellips, it means hope doesn't it?"

Janus smiled then flickered out of existence. McKay stood there a moment. Of all the questions that could have lingered in his mind, only one did.

 _If Mary was Pandora, why then would Doctor Fox lie to get John alone?_


End file.
